harkness



13.1.. HARKN'ESS.

CARPET STRETGHER.

No. 303,510. Patented Aug. 12, 1884.

m7 eases.- l n M917 for:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DEVILLO L. HARKNESS, ON BERLIN, WVISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO MARY A. HARKNESS, OF SAME PLACE.

CARPET-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,510, dated August 12, 1884:.

Application filed May 27, 1 884. (No model.)

T0 (0% whom it may concern;

Be it knownthat I, DEVILLO L. HARKNESS, of Berlin, in the county of Green Lake, and in the State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carpet- Stretchers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.-

My invention relates to devices for stretching carpets; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction, all as will be more fully set forth hereinafter.

1n the drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of my device, and Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification thereof. Fig. 3 is another modification.

Heretofore in such carpet-stretchers as have come into general use the chief objection has been that the points or spikes on the'nnwhich were designed to catch into the surface of the carpets,have had the tendency either to make holes, and thcreby'injure the carpets. or else to separate the fibers of the carpet, and in the consequent stretching of the carpet to thereby loosen its texture, and to obviate such defects is the principal object of my present invention.

A represents the head of my device, which is preferably of the shape, in cross-section, shown in the drawings, (that is, with rounded base A or operating-surface,) and of any convenient length. At its center, on one of the upper sides, it is provided with a suitable socket, a, to receive the pole or handle B.

In the preferred form of my device I cover the operative face A with strips or pieces of carding-such as is used in cotton and woolen mills-that is, a material consisting of a backing of leather, closely set with sharp wire points a, bent as shown; but, if preferred, the leather backing may be dispensed with, and other material substituted therefor; or the card-teeth or wire points a may be inserted directly into the operative face A of the de vice, as shown in Fig. 2.

The operation of my device will be readily understood from the foregoing description of its construction, and its advantages will be apparent when it is seen that the teeth or points,which are set in an infinite number into the backing of the device, can penetrate but a slight distance into the carpet, and are not capable of either makingholes therein or separating the fibers of the goods, and at the same time hold the carpet firmly beyond the chance of accidental release, and yet, as the said points are all bent so as to extend only one way, the'carpet can be instantly freed from the stretcher by the slightest backward pull at the will of the operator.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown the socket a as simply a hole in the solid head A; but in Fig. 3 I show the handle-socket a of metal cast with a spider, by meansof which it is attached to the upper side of the bearing-head A. It is obvious, moreover, that my head may be cast in one piece with the socket of the general form shown in Fig. 3, and it is immaterial whether the said head is solid, as represented, or open, so long as it has a proper bearingsurface, A, to which the card-clothing or carding 0 may be attached, or in which the ends of the minute points 0 may be embedded, and my device may be modified in a variety of ways obvious to the mechanic without departing from the spirit of my invention, as set forth in the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a carpet-stretcher, a bearing head with rounded operating-surface thickly set with minute wire points, all bent in the same direction, and pointing away from the handle of the device, substantially as set forth.

2. In a carpet-stretcher, the combination of the bearing head A, having socket a and rounded operating-face A, the handle B, and

the leather facing O, thickly set with the mi nute bent wire points 0 c c, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Visconsin, in the presence of two witnesses.

DEVILLO L. HARKNESS.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWOOD, H. J. FORSYTHE. 

